Cara Buono
Cara Buono (born March 1, 1971) is an American actress. She made her film debut in Gladiator (1992) and received recognition for her roles in various television shows including CBS Schoolbreak Special (1991), Law & Order (1996–2024), Mad Men (2010), and starred as Karen Wheeler in the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016–2025). Her roles earned her nominations for both a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series and a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming.
Cara Buono

Rob DiCaterino · CC BY 2.0
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- screenwriter, film producer, actress and film director.
- Education
- Columbia University and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School.
- Known for
- Stranger Things.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Cara Buono (born March 1, 1971) is an American actress. She made her film debut in Gladiator (1992) and received recognition for her roles in various television shows including CBS Schoolbreak Special (1991), Law & Order (1996–2024), Mad Men (2010), and starred as Karen Wheeler in the Netflix series Stranger Things (2016–2025). Her roles earned her nominations for both a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series and a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming.
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Note VALÉORINE
Cara Buono (born 1971) is an American actor, actress and film actor, among other activities. The actor was born in The Bronx.
Cara Buono studied at Columbia University. The actor lived in Greenwich Village.
Works include Stranger Things. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
wikidata · Q289540 · wikipedia · Cara Buono
In this article
Early life and education
Early life and education
On film, Buono has appeared in a number of projects since her 1992 debut, with her most notable credits including Hulk (2003), in which she portrayed Edith Banner, Let Me In (2010), A Good Marriage (2014), Paper Towns (2015), All Saints (2017), Monsters and Men (2018), and She Came from the Woods (2022).
Buono was born to Rosemary (née Desiderioscioli; 1930–2023) and Anthony Buono (1927–2021) and raised in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, in a blue-collar family of Italian descent. She has two brothers and a sister. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and graduated from Columbia University with a double major in English and political science, which she completed in three years. She made her acting debut in Harvey Fierstein's play Spookhouse at the age of 12.
Career
Career
Buono continued stage work both on Broadway and Off Broadway, and started her film career opposite Ethan Hawke and Jeremy Irons in Waterland (1992). Much of her work has been in indie films such as Chutney Popcorn (1999), Happy Accidents (2000), Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Two Ninas (1999), which she co-produced. In 1999, she had a small role as a young Gerry Cummins in the TV movie, Deep in My Heart (1999). She starred in the final season of the NBC drama Third Watch (1999) as paramedic Grace Foster, and Ang Lee's feature film of Marvel Comics' Hulk in 2003 as the mother of the title character's alter ego, Bruce Banner. She also appeared as Kelli, the wife of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), in the two-part final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos, which aired in 2006 and 2007. She appeared as Dr. Faye Miller in the fourth season of the AMC drama series Mad Men, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011.
Personal life
Personal life
Buono lives in New York City's Greenwich Village with her husband Peter Thum, founder of Ethos Water, and their daughter.

With Greg at the Chiller Theatre Expo at the Hilton Parsippany Hotel in Parsippany, NJ. Saturday, October 28, 2017. pictured (left to right): Greg, Cara Buono, and Lanza
Rob DiCaterino
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Greenwich Village.
Residences
The Bronx.
Birth place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Cara Buono”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q289540: Cara Buono
Unverified · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Today's Birthdays. The Arizona Republic. The Associated Press. D6. March 1, 2011.
- 2.Rosemary Desiderioscioli Buono (2023). bronxfuneralhome.com.
- 3.Anthony Buono (2021). bronxfuneralhome.com.
- 4.Watkins, Gwynne. Mad Men's Cara Buono on Her Character Faye's Affair With Don Draper. New York. September 20, 2010.
- 5.Freydkin, Donna. Cara Buono shares cooking tips but no 'Mad Men' secrets. USA Today. August 30, 2010.
- 6.Cara Buono. Vogue Italy.
- 7.Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts. LaGuardia Arts Alumni.
- 8.A NIGHT OUT WITH -- Cara Buono; Mrs. Wisguy. The New York Times. April 8, 2007.
- 9.Hochberg, Mina (September 27, 2010). Q&A with Cara Buono . AMCtv.com
- 10.2011 Outstanding Guest Actress Nominees in a Drama Series Emmys.com
- 11.Cara Buono. My husband @peterthum made this with our 3 year old daughter. #boo. 787804806576476160. October 16, 2016.
- 12.River Red. Variety. March 2, 1998.
- 13.Zhang, Michael. Trailer for the 5D Mark II Short Film "Betrayed". PetaPixel. January 28, 2010.
- 14.Padgett, Ethan. Queen of the Ring. Film Threat. October 24, 2024.
- 15.Atkinson, Tom. V13. Film Threat. April 30, 2025.
- 16.Things Like This. Austin Chronicle. May 16, 2025.
- 17.Lowry, Brian. Drew Peterson: Untouchable. Variety. January 20, 2012.
- 18.Boucher, Geoff. 'Supergirl': Mitch Pileggi And Cara Buono Join Season 5 Cast. Deadline. September 19, 2019.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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